Ward’s Take: July 6, 2018

Happy Friday, folks. I survived my overnight last night. It wasn’t that hard, I used to do those things every weekend, but I like to try to make myself sound cooler than I am.

Today: The Cardinals are trying to fool us again. The Cardinals farm system didn’t like offense Thursday. Should stakes be included when rating a good game? The Nationals may have found the win they needed. My favorite breakfast option when going low-carb.

Let’s roll.

The Cardinals are trying to look like a formidable team again

They always do this, don’t they? They go on a horrible stretch and it’s immediately followed by a really good stretch that gives us a reason to believe, then they go back to horrible.

I’ve realized this trend, so rather than overreacting, I will just enjoy. Let’s look at some of the positives.

Luke Weaver was phenomenal. Eight innings, two runs, he even got a hit at the plate. I just advocated for this guy to be sent down to Memphis less than a week ago. Sometimes guys will make me eat my words. These words taste really sweet.

FIVE RBI’s for Gyorko. And we want to consider going after Moustakas? Yadi kept hitting, Pham and Ozuna kept looking like they’re back on the upward path. Can you imagine what this team can do if all those guys are on?

One more thing, Harrison Bader surely earned himself another start in right field. That won’t appease Dexter Fowler, Mark Saxon wrote a good piece for The Athletic about the dissension between Dex and the organization.

If MM is true to his word in that piece, that the hot hand will play the position, you should see Bader there again tonight.

The Cardinals farm system didn’t do nearly as well with offense

While the Cardinals found offense last night, the farm system certainly didn’t. Four different teams scored three runs or less. Check out my farm report for Viva El Birdos.

The stakes of a game shouldn’t be considered when rating a good game

If they are, let that be known. But when it comes to rating the “greatest game of all time”, no matter the sport, I ignore the stakes. My finest example of this is Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

I know, I’m biased, but hear me out. If you put Game 7 of the 2016 World Series in the middle of June, is it that great? Let’s say instead of the Cubs winning their first championship in over 100 years, it’s the Yankees winning number 28. Not as special.

To redeem my biased look, I will say that I think the Greatest World Series game of all time is Game 5 of last year’s World Series. Yes, better than 2011 Game 6. There was lead changes, momentum swings, crazy comebacks. You put that game in the middle of June, it’s still a hell of a game.

Of course, there’s never going to be a clear-cut way to judge games, but this is the way I judge it. I ignore the stakes, ignore the teams, ignore the players, and just watch the game.

The Nationals may have found the momentum swing they needed

Speaking of good games, I hope you saw what the Nationals did last night. If not, go find out, or keep reading.

The Marlins held a 9-0 lead in the fourth inning. The Nationals won the game 14-12. The comeback was massive, Trea Turner had EIGHT RBI’s, and DC was rocking.

For a team that’s been struggling to even stay around the .500 mark, they needed something big to shift some momentum. This game might’ve done just that, and I’m interested to see if their level of plays improves over the next few games.

My favorite food when on a low-carb shred: eggs

Eggs are friendly, eggs are kind, eggs are king.

Again, for those that don’t know, Kaytlyn and I are working on a shred program right now in preparation for our Miami trip. This program gradually decreases the number of carbs you eat which sometimes puts you in a bind as far as what you can eat.

If you try a low-carb diet and you like eggs, you’re sitting pretty. Eggs have hardly any carbs (mine don’t have any). They also carry about six grams of protein and five grams of GOOD fat. While they do have a fair amount of cholesterol, it’s mainly HDL (the good kind).

Thank God for eggs.

Thanks for reading. One quick thing about the timing on these. I’m probably going to start posting in the late afternoon/nighttime. I’d love to make it a morning thing, but I want to find a consistent time that should always work for me.

This will prevent me from ever missing a post because I slept too long, give me some time to think rather than rushing to get ideas down in the morning, and really, like I said, to just try to find a consistent time.

When I work at 4 AM three days a week, saying I’ll still be able to get these out in the morning is a very empty promise.